A parent comments on the UrbanBaby Schools board:

I find it amazing how many kids in NY have ERB scores of 99. Parents are either lying or this city has a hugely disproportionate number of the smartest kids in the country.

I don’t know how many parents lie, but definitely a disproportionate number of Manhattan and Brooklyn four-year-olds get high 90s, and often 99s.  Many of my clients get 99s, as do many other kids I hear about from families.  Quite simply, Manhattan and Brooklyn kindergarten applicants are prepped for the ERB, wittingly or unwittingly, by their parents, their schools, their therapists and/or their tutors.  And since New York City kids are compared to a national norm that does not change year by year, counterintuitively, more than 1% of the population can get a 99.